Sanenus takes solid victory in La Canada Stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. - From his vantage point aboard Sanenus, jockey Umberto Rispoli saw positive developments in the first half of Saturday’s Grade 3 La Canada Stakes at Santa Anita.

Fighting Mad, the 4-5 favorite, and Hard Not to Love, the 3-1 second choice, had alternated leading through an opening quarter-mile in 23.30 seconds. Rispoli had Sanenus positioned in third, about three lengths off the pace through the first half-mile.

“It was 23 and change and very angry,” Rispoli said. “They were head and head.”

Sanenus joined the leaders at the end of the backstretch. When the field reached the quarter-pole, Sanenus had an unopposed lead. She extended her advantage to six lengths at the finish of the $201,000 race for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles.

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The winning time was 1:45.44. Sanenus ($17) was not urged in the final sixteenth, with Rispoli reaching down to pat the mare’s neck in the final strides.

“She went to the wire with her ears flicking around,” Rispoli said.

Sanenus earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 93.

Miss Stormy D, a 14-1 outsider in a field of seven, closed from fourth to finish second, a nose in front of Hard Not to Love.

Never Be Enough, the longest price in the field at 18-1, finished fourth, followed by Fighting Mad, Proud Emma, and Message.

Fighting Mad led into the first turn, but was challenged quickly by Hard Not to Love. Fighting Mad took the lead on the backstretch, through a half-mile in 46.37 seconds. She could not sustain the effort, and faded to finish 12 3/4 lengths behind Sanenus in her first start since a third in the Grade 2 Zenyatta Stakes in September.

Fighting Mad won two stakes in 2020, including the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar last August. Hard Not to Love, unraced since a second in the Zenyatta, is winless in five graded stakes since a win in the Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes at seven furlongs last February.

Sanenus, a 5-year-old Chilean-bred mare by Scat Daddy, is owned by Haras Matriarca and trained by Michael McCarthy. The La Canada Stakes was her first win in the United States in her fourth start since arriving from Chile in early 2020.

Sanenus was second in her American stakes debut in the Grade 3 Chilukki Stakes at a mile at Churchill Downs on Nov. 21. She was third in allowance races at Del Mar and Churchill Downs in her first two starts in this country.

Sanenus has won 5 of 12 starts and has earned $219,700. In Chile, Sanenus won three stakes, including the Group 1 Tanteo de Potrancas at about 7 1/2 furlongs on dirt in June 2019.